Saraband

Saraband is an ensemble that expands from just two violins to a larger group including theorbo, guitar, cello, and viola da gamba, specialising in music that would have been heard in the grand houses, sitting rooms, coffee houses, taverns and streets of the 17th and 18th centuries.

In their programmes the music is woven together with entertaining and interesting snippets that take the audience into the wider cultural background from which the music springs. Much inspiration has come from playing regularly in English Heritage’s Kenwood House, with its music room hanging with portraits of 18th-century ladies by Reynolds, Gainsborough, Hoppner and Romney. Saraband loves to delve into the connections between venue, paintings, people and music, digging around for lost music that tells the bigger story and sharing their findings with the audience.

Kenwood House audience comments:

'The concert played today was amazing. The tale, the story, the ambiance.....everything was ALIVE in the moment.'

'Fantastic! I particularly love being able to hear the history and stories behind the music. It makes them come alive. Brilliant selection and presentation! A joy to listen to.'

As well as performing regularly at Kenwood House in Hampstead with programmes inspired by the house and its artworks, they have played at Wellington's Apsley House, Pepy's church, the Foundling Museum and various taverns about town.

Members:
Sarah Bealby-Wright violin
Henrietta Wayne violin ​
​Johan Löfving theorbo, guitar
Jacob Garside cello, viola da gamba
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